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Effects of Parkinson’s disease on optic flow perception for heading direction during navigation

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Abstract

Visuoperceptual disorders have been identified in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and may affect the perception of optic flow for heading direction during navigation. Studies in healthy subjects have confirmed that heading direction can be determined by equalizing the optic flow speed (OS) between visual fields. The present study investigated the effects of PD on the use of optic flow for heading direction, walking parameters, and interlimb coordination during navigation, examining the contributions of OS and spatial frequency (dot density). Twelve individuals with PD without dementia, 18 age-matched normal control adults (NC), and 23 young control adults (YC) walked through a virtual hallway at about 0.8 m/s. The hallway was created by random dots on side walls. Three levels of OS (0.8, 1.2, and 1.8 m/s) and dot density (1, 2, and 3 dots/m2) were presented on one wall while on the other wall, OS and dot density were fixed at 0.8 m/s and 3 dots/m2, respectively. Three-dimensional kinematic data were collected, and lateral drift, walking speed, stride frequency and length, and frequency, and phase relations between arms and legs were calculated. A significant linear effect was observed on lateral drift to the wall with lower OS for YC and NC, but not for PD. Compared to YC and NC, PD veered more to the left under OS and dot density conditions. The results suggest that healthy adults perceive optic flow for heading direction. Heading direction in PD may be more affected by the asymmetry of dopamine levels between the hemispheres and by motor lateralization as indexed by handedness.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke 1R01NS067128 to ACG. The study was presented in part at the ACRM-ASNR Annual Conference, 2011. Our recruitment efforts were supported, with our gratitude, by Marie Saint-Hilaire, MD and Cathi Thomas, RN, MSN, of Boston Medical Center Neurology Associates, and by Boston area Parkinson disease support groups. We thank Chelsea Toner and Laura Pistorino, who assisted in participant recruitment and data management, and Boston University’s Scientific Computing and Visualization staff members Erik Brisson and Robert Putnam, who provided expert technical support. We are deeply grateful to all of the individuals who participated in this study. We dedicate this paper to the memory of our colleague and friend, Robert Wagenaar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Sargent College, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Cheng-Chieh Lin, Robert C. Wagenaar, Daniel Young, Elliot L. Saltzman & Xiaolin Ren

  2. Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Sandy Neargarder & Alice Cronin-Golomb

  3. Department of Psychology, Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA, USA

    Sandy Neargarder

  4. Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 100 Penn St. Room 106, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Cheng-Chieh Lin

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  1. Cheng-Chieh Lin
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  2. Robert C. Wagenaar
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Correspondence to Cheng-Chieh Lin.

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Lin, CC., Wagenaar, R.C., Young, D. et al. Effects of Parkinson’s disease on optic flow perception for heading direction during navigation. Exp Brain Res 232, 1343–1355 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3853-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3853-9

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